[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-overthrowing-han":3,"chapter-overthrowing-han-overthrowing-han-chapter-25":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Overthrowing Han",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1222784,1620,"Chapter 25: In Goushi County","overthrowing-han-chapter-25",25,"\u003Cp>In the Han dynasty, the youxia, or wandering swordsmen, were a very common group — so common, in fact, that they were everywhere. And the composition of this group was extraordinarily complex, ranging from the lowest street thugs to honored guests of high ministers. Their ways of behaving were equally hard to pin down, encompassing everything from political scheming to kicking in the doors of widows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As you can see, the Grand Historian and Ban Gu had enormous disagreements over this very group.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, setting aside that complicated academic question and returning to the matter at hand, let’s ask a simple question: in this day and age, what basic conditions does one need to become a successful youxia?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the great youxia Yuan Zhong, of Goushi County in Henan, this question could not be simpler, because he was already, to a certain degree, a success among youxia.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First, you must know how to wield a blade and sword... This point should be beyond dispute. If you can’t fence and you can’t fight ruthlessly, what the hell are you doing as a youxia?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Second, you need a backer. This backer should ideally be a local powerful clan, the kind that has connections in both the underworld and legitimate society. That way, if you get into trouble, they can smooth over minor matters and help you hide for major ones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Next, you had best be well-versed in the law. That’s right, a youxia leader must be thoroughly versed in the law — this should be common sense. And needless to say, this is Henan, the outskirts of Luoyang, right under the Son of Heaven’s feet. Those dogs under the Henan Intendant have never been fond of giving any face to youxia. If you really commit a major crime, what will you do when they execute you on the spot in an instant?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And finally, naturally, after understanding the law, understanding human sentiment, and grasping the stakes, you must cleverly seek to rise above the rest. What matters cannot be shirked and must be done? What matters look terrifying but actually carry no risk? What matters require little investment but yield great returns? What matters must absolutely never be touched...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, with the booming development of his chariot-racing enterprise, the increasingly successful great youxia Yuan Zhong now had one small worry on his mind... He was illiterate!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A youxia needs to have some culture too, alright?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Being illiterate meant he needed someone to specially explain legal knowledge to him, which inevitably led to misjudgments. Being illiterate meant he couldn’t read letters, forcing him to share certain secrets with those around him. Being illiterate meant he couldn’t read imperial court documents, and thus couldn’t grasp the benefits and drawbacks of court policies to further strengthen himself...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In short, although Yuan Zhong, known in the jianghu as Great Xia Yuan, was nearly forty, he still held a \"knowledge changes destiny\" mindset and diligently studied reading and writing. This attitude would practically shame the likes of Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei... Of course, Uncle Yuan Zhong was getting on in years, and his mind was a bit slow, so his progress in literacy was truly poor, and he often forgot things, but that couldn’t be helped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And besides, he was still not the least bit discouraged and worked as hard as ever, wasn’t he?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So it was that on this day, after breakfast, Great Xia Yuan Zhong finished calculating the accounts for the chariot racing, and immediately seized the moment, thirstily taking out the Classic of Filial Piety... uh, this was the main primer for people in the Han dynasty... and then began using his large hand, calloused from wielding a sword, to grip a tree branch and copy a few characters from it onto a sand tray... crooked and twisted, yet with the utmost seriousness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Disaster! Disaster!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Quickly, inform Big Brother Yuan!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Zhang Zhong, hurry and block the gate!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don’t let this gang charge in!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as he was about to write a character that looked somewhat passable, a clamor erupted outside. Startled, he actually knocked over his sand tray.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Great Xia Yuan instantly flew into a rage: \"Who’s making that racket? Get your ass out here before your father!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Big Brother, Big Brother, it really is a disaster!\" A trusted follower, ignoring Great Xia Yuan’s fury, still barged into his \"study.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Speak, then!\" Great Xia Yuan fumed. \"What disaster could there possibly be in this Goushi County town? Just yesterday I smoothed things over with the county’s thief-catcher and jailer. Could it be the Xianbei have fought their way into Henan?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Big Brother, it really is a disaster.\" The trusted follower tugged at Great Xia Yuan Zhong’s arm to explain. \"It’s that group of young masters from Hebei. They’ve come in a fierce, menacing manner, several dozen of them together. As you instructed, we absolutely dare not fight back... What if they break in?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hahaha...\" Upon hearing this, Great Xia Yuan Zhong deliberately let out a loud laugh so the underlings in the courtyard could all hear. \"I thought it was something serious! You all are overthinking it. We don’t dare do anything to them, but do they dare do anything to us? This is right under the Son of Heaven’s feet! At worst, these Hebei men can tie me up and humiliate me a bit; they can’t actually eat me. Besides, this group is either rich or noble, while I’m just a commoner from a humble family. If being humiliated by them once spares my brothers from being implicated, then it’s still a gain. Come, come, open the main gate. I’ll go meet these Hebei fellows!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The group of youxia who followed Yuan Zhong to make a living looked at each other upon hearing this, unsure whether to first praise their Big Brother’s courage or his sense of honor in not implicating others... but something felt a bit off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The main gate opened. Several dozen Hebei scholars and their sturdy guests and servants, swords at their waists, barged into Great Xia Yuan Zhong’s courtyard. But Great Xia Yuan Zhong stood fearless, head high and chest out, leading his youxia to confront them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yuan Zhong!\" Gongsun Zan’s voice was no longer hoarse, and his spirits seemed quite high. \"Do you know why we’ve come looking for you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Of course I know.\" Great Xia Yuan answered disdainfully. \"A bunch of nobles from Hebei, tricked by a commoner like me, losing face all the way to the Yellow River. You’ve come to make trouble for me!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The group of Hebei fellows burst into loud laughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the laughter subsided, Gongsun Zan sized him up with keen interest: \"It’s good you know. That being the case, will you come with us willingly, or shall we invite you to take a trip?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’ll just accompany you nobles. Why implicate my companions?\" Yuan Zhong replied proudly. \"And what is there to fear from one trip? I’ll lay down these words today: if I so much as furrow my brow once during this journey, then I, Yuan Zhong, am the son of a lowly slave girl!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gongsun Zan’s expression changed violently, but then he broke into a laugh: \"Great Xia Yuan underestimates our magnanimity. We here are all nobles; you are a commoner. If we humiliate you too excessively, it is we who lose face instead... So we absolutely won’t make Great Xia Yuan furrow his brow even once. Please!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that, as Gongsun Zan waved a hand, the group of Hebei fellows naturally parted to make a path. Yuan Zhong stopped his underlings from making any moves. Wearing neither sword nor blade, dressed only in a black straight-hem robe and a red headscarf, his face calm and heartbeat steady, he passed through the gap and followed these young masters, disappearing beyond the main gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The group wound this way and that until they left the town. Then, contrary to what he imagined — being taken behind Mount Goushi for a brutal beating — or what he feared — being stripped naked and humiliated... If it were truly the latter, although these young masters would appear cheap and be mocked by the local scholars, Yuan Zhong would seemingly have no choice but to gather his men afterward and kill a few noble young masters to wash away the shame on his body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, fortunately, these noble young masters still had some sense. They actually brought Yuan Zhong all the way to the wine shop where they had been staying... It was clear this was meant to be intimidation. And against this kind of routine, Great Xia Yuan truly felt not the slightest fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, when they actually arrived, beyond Yuan Zhong’s expectations, these young masters merely forced him to drink, too lazy to even speak an extra word. Fine Xinfeng wine, one cup per person, forcing you to drink — that was all!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What was this? Great Xia Yuan Zhong was scornful. Did these Hebei fellows think he would make a fool of himself if he got drunk? So what if he made a fool of himself? Making a fool of oneself while drunk might even be packaged as an elegant affair! Surely it couldn’t be that after he got drunk, these nobles would play some underhanded trick, like making him press a thumbprint onto some debt document? That would be even less interesting than hanging him up and beating him!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With this thought, Great Xia Yuan instead let go of his worries and wholeheartedly began to enjoy himself... until he was dead drunk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Scholars disrupt the law with their writings, and youxia violate the prohibitions with their martial prowess.\" — Han Feizi\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>PS: New book period, I’m asking for collections even though my reasoning isn’t straight and my confidence isn’t strong. Also, there’s a new book group; interested students can join: 684558115.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1647,"2026-06-04T19:42:03.441Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","b1374c909d603c055b67158be54666a8e3de9ba3237eaaef1612fd0ad3054efd","overthrowing-han-chapter-26","overthrowing-han-chapter-24",548,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Foverthrowing-han-cover.jpg"]